Minister says he has not seen evidence that outof hours providers are being squeezed by GP practices piloting extended opening hours
Government would step in if services were affected by doctors choosing to work at pilot sites
The government would step in to save GP out of hours services “on the

Government’s commitment to seven-day GP services has been misinterpreted, says minister
Plans for rolling out new models of enhanced access to GPs will be published soon
Alistair Burt: ‘Binary divide’ between innovation-ready practices and failing providers
The government’s pledge to ensure

NHS Improvement will have an “accountability edge and a regulatory edge”, says Jim Mackey
Chief executive says more can be done to make competition a driver of improvement
Trusts that are “quite close” to FT authorisation should be allowed to finish process
The regulatory duties of NHS

Jim Mackey says an efficiency factor of 2 per cent is “closer to what’s doable” in 2016-17
NHS Improvement chief says there’s a need to make savings targets “challenging but within reach”
He hopes to “be clear” by end of the month about package of measures to help bring provider deficit down to

The main incentive for GPs to switch to the government’s proposed new ‘voluntary contract’ will be to gain more control over their work and more time to see patients, health minister Alistair Burt has told HSJ.